² “Oh that my anguish were weighed,
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!
³ For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas,
    therefore my words have been rash.
⁴ For the arrows of the Almighty are within me.
    My spirit drinks up their poison.
The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
⁵     Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass?
Or does the ox low over his fodder?
⁶     Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
⁷     My soul refuses to touch them.
They are as loathsome food to me.

⁸ “Oh that I might have my request,
    that God would grant the thing that I long for,
⁹ even that it would please God to crush me;
    that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
¹⁰ Let it still be my consolation,
    yes, let me exult in pain that doesn’t spare,
    that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
¹¹ What is my strength, that I should wait?
    What is my end, that I should be patient?
¹² Is my strength the strength of stones?
    Or is my flesh of bronze?
¹³ Isn’t it that I have no help in me,
    that wisdom is driven away from me?

¹⁴ “To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend;
    even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
¹⁵ My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook,
    as the channel of brooks that pass away;
¹⁶ Which are black by reason of the ice,
    in which the snow hides itself.
¹⁷ In the dry season, they vanish.
    When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
¹⁸ The caravans that travel beside them turn away.
    They go up into the waste, and perish.
¹⁹ The caravans of Tema looked.
    The companies of Sheba waited for them.
²⁰ They were distressed because they were confident.
    They came there, and were confounded.
²¹ For now you are nothing.
    You see a terror, and are afraid.
²² Did I say, ‘Give to me?’
    or, ‘Offer a present for me from your substance?’
²³ or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand?’
    or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?’

²⁴ “Teach me, and I will hold my peace.
    Cause me to understand my error.
²⁵ How forcible are words of uprightness!
    But your reproof, what does it reprove?
²⁶ Do you intend to reprove words,
    since the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind?
²⁷ Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless,
    and make merchandise of your friend.
²⁸ Now therefore be pleased to look at me,
    for surely I will not lie to your face.
²⁹ Please return.
    Let there be no injustice.
    Yes, return again.
    My cause is righteous.
³⁰ Is there injustice on my tongue?
    Can’t my taste discern mischievous things?

7 “Isn’t a man forced to labor on earth?
    Aren’t his days like the days of a hired hand?
² As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow,
    as a hireling who looks for his wages,
³ so I am made to possess months of misery,
    wearisome nights are appointed to me.
⁴ When I lie down, I say,
    ‘When will I arise, and the night be gone?’
    I toss and turn until the dawning of the day.
⁵ My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust.
    My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh.
⁶ My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
    and are spent without hope.
⁷ Oh remember that my life is a breath.
    My eye will no more see good.
⁸ The eye of him who sees me will see me no more.
    Your eyes will be on me, but I will not be.
⁹ As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away,
    so he who goes down to Sheol^[a] will come up no more.
¹⁰ He will return no more to his house,
    neither will his place know him any more.

¹¹ “Therefore I will not keep silent.
    I will speak in the anguish of my spirit.
    I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
¹² Am I a sea, or a sea monster,
    that you put a guard over me?
¹³ When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me.
    My couch will ease my complaint;’
¹⁴ then you scare me with dreams,
    and terrify me through visions:
¹⁵ so that my soul chooses strangling,
    death rather than my bones.
¹⁶ I loathe my life.
    I don’t want to live forever.
    Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
¹⁷ What is man, that you should magnify him,
    that you should set your mind on him,
¹⁸ that you should visit him every morning,
    and test him every moment?
¹⁹ How long will you not look away from me,
    nor leave me alone until I swallow down my spittle?
²⁰ If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men?
    Why have you set me as a mark for you,
    so that I am a burden to myself?
²¹ Why do you not pardon my disobedience, and take away my iniquity?
    For now will I lie down in the dust.
    You will seek me diligently, but I will not be.”